


Melody Kandelah and the Son of Hades

by liveandlove



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, This is very special to me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:28:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26990668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liveandlove/pseuds/liveandlove
Summary: Melody is a regular thirteen year-old girl in a regular school with a not-so regular life. But then again, what is a normal life? She has a few secrets, sure, but who doesn't?All of that suddenly changes when HE shows up, saves her life, and whisks her off on an adventure she could never have imagined.What is a half-blood, anyways?
Relationships: Nico di Angelo and Will Solace (implied)
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is very special to me. I wrote it a while ago. More thought and proofreading has gone into this than any of my other stories. Even Melody's name is special; it's a double pun in reference to her godly parent.  
> I'll post a little bit of it up for now, and see what y'all think before I post more.

It was a normal day at Cleveland Boarding School.  
The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the teacher was drawling on. Melody sat in her classroom, staring at words that didn't make sense and made her head hurt when she tried to make sense of them. Dyslexia sucked. She sighed in frustration, swept her blond hair out of her face, and closed the book.  
"Are you having trouble, Melody?"  
She looked up to see her teacher, Mr. Baver, staring at her disapprovingly. His hair was graying and he always smelled of hair spray. She tried for a smile. "No, Mr. Beaver-Baver, sir," she said. She cursed herself for letting Mr. Beaver slip. All the kids called him Mr. Beaver behind his back.  
Snickers sounded from the class.  
Mr. Baver crossed his arms. "Perhaps you would like to help us out, then?" He gestured toward the blackboard, where a question on the literature they were reading sat. Melody gulped.  
"Well?" Her teacher had begun tapping his foot impatiently.  
She rose from her seat and advanced toward the board, glancing at other students as she passed. Most of them were just laughing behind books or hands, but one wasn't. This kid just studied her as she moved. His hair was dark, and everything he wore was black- his jacket, his shirt, his jeans. Being the bright, sunny person she was, Melody highly disapproved of this. He caught her gaze for just a second and pretended to be absorbed in his book. That was weird.  
She reached the board, picked up the chalk, and read the question. To illiterate is to ______. To illiterate? Was that a joke? Then she realized the word was alliterate, but that information was quite unhelpful. She began to panic, feeling everyone's eyes on her. Then she looked down at her hand.  
When Melody got upset, she reacted in a very strange way. She felt her hand heat up, and then saw the chalk melting in her hand. She tried to stop it, but it was too late for that. The chalk dripped between her fingers and landed on Mr. Bavers desk. Laughter exploded from the class.  
Melody looked beside her and saw Mr. Baver. He frowned, but there was a triumphant look in his eyes too, like she and him were playing cards and he had just dealt the winning hand. "You will be seeing me after class, Melody."  
She nodded grudgingly and headed back to her seat. Only one kid wasn't laughing, and it was that strange one. Instead, he looked... worried. About what? Was there a pop quiz coming up that she didn't know about?  
She reached her desk and slumped into her seat. That kid had been strange from the very start. He always kept to himself and was always by himself. He was constantly teased about that, along with his tendency to wear black all the time. It was rare that he spoke, and when he did, it was perfectly pronounced and somewhat clipped, like he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. Slang? Forget about it. He somewhat reminded her of those Goth kids that she saw outside of middle school. She also knew he had no friends, but she did not know his name.  
Suddenly the bell rang. Melody could have sworn there was at least half an hour left of class, but who was she to complain? Maybe she could sneak out with the swarm of kids leaving the room.  
When she attempted, however, the kid intercepted her. He gently touched her shoulder, stopping her. She quickly shrugged his hand off. "What?"  
He glanced around the hallway, as if making sure there was nobody else around. All the other kids were opening their lockers and paying no attention. "Look, I heard him tell you to stay behind. When you do, whatever you do, try to stay as far away from him as possible. I can't tell you why right now, but he's more dangerous than you think."  
Ok, this made no sense. This boy, who barely knew her (and that was putting it nicely), was warning her about a teacher? She smirked. "Well, why can't you? Besides, he's a teacher. What can he do to me?"  
The boy glanced at the teacher apprehensively, but he was sorting papers and took no notice of the two of them. "Just-"  
"Melody?" All of a sudden, Mr. Baver was standing right in the doorway, staring at the duo. There was a look in his eyes that made her think this kid and Mr. Baver had some history.  
"I'm coming, sir," Melody replied. She gave the kid a pointed look and followed Mr. Baver into the classroom.  
He stopped right in the middle. Melody stopped too.  
"I'm sorry to say this, but I don't think you've been paying enough attention in my class lately," he said.  
Melody hung her head. She had learned that the quickest way to get out of any kind of trouble was to play the guilty man- or woman? "I'm sorry, Mr. Baver. It won't happen again."  
"As a matter of fact, I think you may need detention," he continued. He said it almost... hungrily.  
"Detention?" Now she was a bit confused. Melody began backing up slowly as the teacher begun advancing menacingly. "Doesn't that seem like a bit too harsh of a punishment for not paying attention in class?" Impulsively, she glanced toward the door, but the kid was gone.  
Mr. Baver appeared not to have heard. Melody's hands began to heat up as her back hit the wall. She tried to run to either side and get more room to maneuver, but the gray-haired teacher planted both hands on either side of her. She was trapped.  
"Yes," he murmured. "Detention... for eternity!"  
He began to change. A regular windstorm started suddenly, wind blowing everything into complete disorder. Melody's hair blew into her face, and by the time she got it out, Mr. Baver was gone. Instead, there was a miniature tornado in the middle of the classroom. He appeared to have backed off of her, probably to avoid suffocating her just yet. It still held a roughly humanoid shape, but a smoky humanoid with wings like a pigeons, at least in color. He looked like a dark angel. He smiled, lighting flickering in his eyes.  
Melody froze, sizing up her chances. She came up with 1/1,000,000,000. This thing was unlike anything she had ever seen, and she had seen some strange things.  
The tornado dude laughed, spreading his arms in glee. How was nobody seeing this? Oh, of course. It was recess time. Nobody ever came back inside the school during recess period.  
"Do you see?" His voice was impossibly loud. "All the time I have spent teaching this class, all the insults I have taken in silence because it was not yet time. All for you! I could have killed you all at any time, but I had to make sure you were the one. And now, I am sure. I am happy! I may now kill you, little half-blood!"  
He lunged. Melody screamed and closed her eyes - but nothing happened.  
She opened them in confusion. The smoky personage had stopped mid-lunge and was staring down at his midsection. Something was jutting out of his gut- a horn? Suddenly, Mr. Baver turned into golden dust and collapsed inward on himself as if something was vacuuming him up from behind. In three seconds, he was gone.  
Standing behind him -what a surprise! - was the kid. He sheathed his pitch-black sword (since when did he have a sword, much less a sheath?) and muttered, "Stupid anemoi. They talk too much."  
He turned to her and held out his hand. Melody didn't take it. In fact, she backed farther against the wall. "Who are you?" she demanded. "Are you one of those... things?"  
He glanced at the papers from the desk that the windstorm had blown off. "Anemoi thuellai? No. I'm..." he trailed off, looking at the door. "I'll tell you later. Right now, it might be better if you came with me."  
She couldn't believe it. "You want me to go with you? In the middle of school? After this? I mean, I don't even know your name, much less if I should trust you."  
He sighed. "I just saved your life, didn't I?"  
"Hey, I had it under control!"  
He raised an eyebrow.  
Melody bit her lip. "Okay, not under control. But still-"  
"My name is Nico, okay?"  
She studied him. Something seemed to have changed. He was holding himself higher and looked more confident than he ever had, at least, as long as Melody could remember. "Nico... what?"  
He glanced at the door again. "Classified, until later."  
He held out his hand again, and this time she took it.  
He peeled her off the wall. "We should probably get out of here before the authorities show up. They'll want to know how a tornado made its way into a middle school classroom."  
"Um, wait." She let go of his hand, and he made no complaint. "Where are you taking me?"  
"Look, Melody, I promise you I will tell you as much as I can as soon as I can. I just can't right now."  
She still did not trust him completely, but she could tell by the tone of his voice that he was telling the truth. "Okay, I'll go. One thing, though. How do you know my name?"  
Nico twisted the skull ring on his finger. "Word gets around."  
That probably meant he had asked around and caused himself some general embarrassment, considering his reputation. He turned toward the door and walked out of the classroom, Melody at his heels. 

Nico was secretly glad. He had managed to get Melody to come with him without any extra drama.  
He wasn't sure what he had expected. Something along the lines of girlish drama. A lot of it.  
Melody was walking beside him as they walked to the street outside of the school. She was strangely quiet, considering the recent monster attack. Usually they were bursting with questions. Nico knew he had been.  
She took a deep breath. "So... what was that thing again? Anemic thunder, you said?"  
Here come the questions. "Anemoi thuellai. A storm spirit."  
"Hmm." She did not look surprised. Perhaps because she was a half-blood, she had seen weird things already and was used to them. "Exactly... what did he want with me?"  
"To kill you, probably."  
She looked at him strangely. "Blunt, aren't you?"  
Nico frowned. "No, just observant. Monsters usually start attacking half bloods when they turn thirteen. Um- how old are you?"  
"Thirteen, give or take a few days." She showed no discomfort in sharing her age. Her expression turned thoughtful. "Half-blood... Mr. Bav-the storm spirit called me the same thing."  
"Yes." He hated this part. Nico could never figure out how to calmly explain to an un-informed demigod that one of their parents was actually a Greek or Roman god from four thousand years ago. "So... have you learned anything about Greek mythology?"  
She kicked a rock halfheartedly. "You mean like Zeus, Apollo, and Hercules, right?"  
"Something like that."  
"Yeah, I've learned about them. What does that have to do with me?"  
He took a deep breath. "Would you believe that they're still around?"  
Now instead of just looking at him distrustfully, she looked at him as if he was insane. "You think the... gods, from ancient Greece, are still around? Dude, how do you know they were even around in the first place?"  
Nico stuck his hands in the pockets of his bomber jacket. "I don't think, I know. The ancient Greek gods, like Zeus and Apollo, for instance, are still around because they're an important part of civilization. With some things, you can tell- like the eagle of Zeus on the dollar bill, or the columns on the Lincoln Memorial and other buildings."  
"You're quoting."  
He looked at her in amazement. It was true. He may not have been quoting the lines exactly, because it had been years, but what he said was roughly what the orientation video at Camp Half-Blood had told him on his first day. "How did you know that?"  
Her expression turned guarded. "My... my mom used to quote a lot. When you quote, something in the tone of your voice changes. I can't explain how I can tell. I just can."  
"Wow." That was cool. "Anyway, you mentioned Hercules. Hercules was a son of Zeus. That's what we are."  
"The sons of Zeus?"  
Nico wasn't looking at her when she said that, but he could hear the smirk in her voice. He allowed himself a small smile. "No, not the sons of Zeus. The children of the gods."  
After hearing that, she was quiet. He understood that. It was a lot to take in when you discovered one of your parents was actually a god from 4000 years ago.  
Finally she sighed and said, "Well. My dad... a god." She said the word dad as if she was talking about a week-old burrito in a dumpster. "I guess it isn't hard to believe."  
In Nico's experience, the phrase "I guess it isn't hard to believe" actually meant "I'm freaking out inside because it's actually really hard to believe but I don't want you to notice". Many new kids at Camp Half-Blood said that phrase all the time. One kid actually DID freak out upon arriving at the camp. The counselors had been on edge for weeks after that.  
Melody tapped his shoulder. "Hey. Stay with me."  
He realized he'd been zoning out. "Sorry."  
She shrugged, obviously indifferent. "So. If you are a 'child of the gods', then who is your 'godly' parent?"  
He lowered his head. "Um..."  
"Go on, you can tell me. I can take it. Besides, if you can't, or won't, tell me, I'll take that as a sign that you're not telling me the truth and that I can't trust you."  
Great. Now he was caught. If he did tell her, she'd would probably freak out- or maybe not. She did not seem to know much about Greek mythology. If he didn't, she wouldn't come with him because she didn't trust him enough. He didn't have a choice.  
"Hades," he mumbled.  
"Sorry- who?"  
"Hades," he said louder.  
"Ohh, Hades," she said. "The god of death, right? That's pretty cool."  
Wow. Nobody ever said Hades was cool before. Then again, she'd learn more once she made it to camp. Nico cringed inwardly. He still had a lot to explain.  
"Cool may not be the word I'd choose to describe it," he replied. "Originally, the Big Three-"  
"The Big Three?"  
Gods. He kept forgetting that she was very new to the demigod world. "Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades."  
Melody looked surprised at the bitterness in his voice. "Go on."  
"After World War Two, the big Three all made a pact never to have any more kids."  
There was a moment of silence as she tried to work that out. "And yet... here you are?"  
Nico grew interested in the zipper of his jacket. "Technically, I wasn't part of that agreement. But I do have... friends, who are."  
It felt strange, saying the word friends. Nico supposed it came from being a loner for so long.  
The conversation seemed to end there. It began to get dark. Mortals began coming out of houses and office buildings, anxious for a breath of fresh air. Some were walking dogs. One particular pooch, a German shepherd, snarled and snapped at him while it walked part. The woman walking the dog tried to apologize, took one look at him, and ushered the dog away. He sighed through his nose. He always seemed to have that effect on mortals and their animals. Demigods, too. Sometimes he wondered how Percy Jackson and the others could stand having him around.  
When the first star appeared, Nico stopped and gazed at it, thinking of his sister... wherever she was now. Then he said, "We need to stop. I- we can't go on until dawn."  
Melody looked dissapointed. She swept her long blond hair out of her eyes. "Why? I can keep going."  
"Night is when the monsters come out." That sounded weak. It was true, but not the only reason. Nico had shadow-travled all the way to downtown Cleveland from Long Island, which took more of his energy then he liked. Even if he had grown more resilient since the war with the earth goddess, Gaea, he couldn't go on much longer without sleep. He was ready to drop.  
Melody studied him with those unnerving blue eyes of hers. He couldn't read her expression. Finally she said: "Fine. How about there?" She pointed to an alley that looked quite comfortable compared to some places where he had slept.  
He nodded and headed toward the alley.


	2. Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dreams are strange. They can be very crazy sometimes. They usually are, for Melody, anyways.  
> But this dream makes the top two.  
> Besides, who the heck is Will Solace?

Melody's mind was buzzing.  
Her father, a god? That was crazy. Her dad had left her mom before she was even born. Who does that?  
According to family, her mom used to be a pretty woman with brown hair, a Southern accent, and a personality that always made you want to smile. Now she was a mother, but that was it. She drank. She got angry at nothing and everything, and Melody blamed her dad for it. He shouldn't have ever left, not with the situation he left them in.  
When her mom was not angry, sad, or just not there, she would tell Melody about her father. "He was a very kind man," she would say. "Handsome, too. He never would have hurt a fly. When he heard that you were coming, he was the happiest thing y'all could ever see. You have his blond hair, you know, and his eyes. He would be so proud, sugar."  
Melody would just shake her head. "What's there to be proud of, Mom?"  
"Oh, honey, don't ever think that," she would say. "You have to focus on the good side of things, not the bad side. Otherwise, how would you ever achieve anything?"  
That's right. Her mom used to be a motivational speaker.  
Melody smiled to herself. It was a sweet memory.  
Suddenly her smile faded. What would her mom think once she heard Melody was missing from school?  
It's okay, she chided herself. Her mom was on vacation in the Pacific. When she left, Melody never knew, but she was NOT anxious to go back to the babysitter. Not at all.  
They had set up a sort of camp. No tent or anything, just food and blankets. After all, Nico said, we'll only be staying for the night.  
This... demigod person was amazing. He showed her his sword for a minute, explaining what it did and where he got it. Forged in the River Styx? Awesome. He also had a small container in his coat pocket that expanded when opened. Nico said that you could store anything inside. In their case, there were food and blankets inside.  
Melody ate her fill. Nothing fancy, just some sandwiches and bottles of water, but it was still better than the slop in the cafeteria. Nico didn't eat anything. He just made sure she was situated, and then slumped down next to her, leaned back against the wall, and closed his eyes.  
She studied him. Cool as he was, he was still a mystery. He also hadn't seemed to realize he had begun swaying as they decided where to sleep.  
Suddenly she remembered something. She swallowed what she was chewing and gently nudged him.  
Nico stirred and opened his eyes. His gaze was bleary, but he still looked like he could stare right through her. "What is it?" he murmured.  
"One last thing," she said just as quietly. Speaking softly seemed to come with the dark. "You, ah... you never told me your last name."  
She was afraid he'd get angry with her for postponing his sleep for such a stupid thing. Thankfully, he didn't. He actually laughed gently, shaking his head. "I never did, did I? Well, if you must know, it's di Angelo. Nico di Angelo. And yours?"  
She smiled. "Melody Kandelah. Nice to meet you."  
He nodded sleepily and reclosed his eyes. Melody finished her sandwich and followed his example. 

She had strange dreams.  
She dreamt of a camp. At least, it looked like a regular summer camp with an archery range, a lake, all that. But Melody could swear that there were warships in the lake and that the climbing wall was on fire.  
The image zoomed in on a baby-blue house. It looked like a retirement home for yodelers. The image entered the house and focused on what looked like the den. Three teenagers were sitting on the couch, and one older man in a wheelchair. One of the kids had a bandaged arm. They seemed to be having a conversation.  
"I'm worried about him," the girl said. She had dark skin and hair with a golden hue. Her eyes were really startling. Her irises looked like pure gold. "He hasn't been the same since the war."  
A guy who looked about sixteen frowned and leaned forward. His blond hair and electric-blue eyes seemed to glow in the light. The thin glasses he wore glinted. He was the one with the bandaged arm. "To tell the truth, I'm worried, too. I never thought he'd be one to voluenteer for a mission like this."  
The boy sitting between them laughed nervously. His dark hair contrasted greatly with his sea-green eyes, which glinted with a mischievous light. He and the other boy were wearing orange tee-shirts that said something that Melody couldn't make out. The girls' shirt was purple. "Ah, don't worry. He's a stubborn son of Hades. He'll be fine."  
Wait. Son of Hades. Mission. That could only mean...  
Melody gasped in her mind. Nico had been sent to collect her? Boy, did he have something to explain.  
In her dream, the door opened and another boy walked in. This one had blond hair and blue eyes like the other one, but the one with glasses looked more tense and ready for everything. This one looked more relaxed. He wore a green polo shirt and, for some reason, a stethoscope. When he saw the others, he smiled, but there was a nervous light in his eyes, too.  
The older man in the wheelchair looked up. "Ah, Will," he said, addressing the boy in the green shirt. "I presume you've come to see if we had procured any information on Nico?"  
The boy, Will, blushed and nodded.  
The older mans eyes twinkled, and he said, "As much as I hate to tell you this, nothing has come up, but you know he only left yesterday. You must be patient."  
Will looked a bit uncomfortable. "I know, but I hate it when he shadow-travels. I mean, I know he's gotten stronger, but-"  
"I know." It was the dark-haired kid who spoke. "We'll just have to trust him. Not that we didn't before, y'know, but he needs his space."  
"Yeah..." Suddenly he must have remembered something, because the light in his eyes changed. "By the way, I'm sure you know that capture the flag did not go too well last night."  
"Yes. We know." The kid with glasses rubbed his forearm.  
"Well, some of the injuries are done setting, and since my faithful assistant is out on this mission, I need some help with healing."  
"You got it." The boys apparently wanted to get out of there, because they both got up in sync. The girl hesitated.  
"You can come too, Hazel," Will said. "It's not like we're going to do a biopsy or anything."  
The girl, Hazel, looked confused as she stood up. "What's a biopsy?"  
"Uh- I'll explain on the way."  
They progressed to say their goodbyes the the man in the wheelchair and leave the building. 

Melody woke with a start. It was daylight, and chilly.  
She looked around, but everything was the same as before. She stood up slowly as not to wake Nico, who was still huddled against the wall with his arms folded across his chest.  
Suddenly there was a loud CRASH! Melody spun to see a disturbed tomcat zipping out of a trash can with a resounding caterwaul, knocking over more trash cans and creating a loud ruckus.  
Nico flinched and his eyes snapped open. He stood up and drew his word in one swift move, looking around for the offending enemy. Finding nothing, he turned to her."What's going on?" he asked.  
"Jeez, Nico," she said. "It was only a cat. Calm yourself." Talk about paranoid.  
He looked around again to be sure. Calmer, he sheathed his sword. "Sorry. Being a half-blood gets you used to things much worse than cats."  
What a happy thought. "Yeah, about this half-blood stuff. What are you doing, really?"  
He looked a little caught off guard. "What do you mean?"  
She told him about her dream. When she told him about the boy named Will, he began blushing himself. Strange.  
She finished. Nico took a deep breath. He still looked half-asleep, despite the rude awakening. "Okay. That place you saw is called Camp Half-Blood. It is one of the only safe places for demigods like you or me."  
"Is that where you're trying to take me?"  
"Yes."  
Melody considered that. It did look fun, but would she be detained indefinitely when she got there? Did she have a choice whether to go or not? A million questions burned in her mind. "How long will I have to stay?"  
"Most kids stay for the summer, but you can live there year-round if you want."  
"Cool." How is a place like this not trending on the Internet? "What do you do there?"  
Nico pulled his jacket closer around himself. It really was chilly. "Train you, mostly. Half bloods aren't like normal kids. You'll be attacked by monsters more than you'd like. Camp Half-Blood trains you, teaches you how to kill monsters and defend yourself, if needed, against other demigods, but never on mortals."  
Aw. She was hoping she'd be able to terrify the bully of the school. "Will I get to use a sword?"  
He smiled. "Maybe. There are other weapons."  
She thought for a moment. "I guess that's cool."  
"So you'll come with me?"  
She decided to mess with him a bit. "And what if I don't?"  
He stuck his hands in his pockets. "Honestly, I don't think it would be very wise not to. Some demigods like me have made it on their own, mostly, but the majority need training to survive. Like you. You don't know who your godly parent is, right?"  
She shook her head and swept her hair out of her face.  
"Well, Camp Half-Blood is probably your best chance of finding that out."  
Silence.  
Melody kicked at a rock. "Alright, then. You've convinced me. One thing, though. Where is it?"  
Nico shivered in his jacket. "It's on Long Island."  
"Long Island, New York?"  
"Yes."  
Oookay. "How are we supposed to get there? That's like, 500 miles."  
Nico turned; making sure nobody else was in the alley with them. Then, once again, he offered her his hand. "Do you trust me?"  
She took it. "No, but what do I have to lose?"  
"Good." He stepped into the sharp shadow of the nearest trashcan and disappeared, taking Melody with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was fun to write, ngl.


	3. Unexpected Interaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico was aiming for New York.   
> So why were they in Niagra Falls?

Darkness. Shadow-travel was like that.  
It was cold, too. Cold in an empty way.   
Suddenly they were thrust out of the shadow world and into reality, much harder than normal.   
The sudden light seared Nico's eyes. He stumbled, and Melody caught him before he could hit the ground.  
"Whoa, Nico," she said. "Don't pass out on me yet."  
He straightened and blinked the spots out of his eyes. "Sorry. Shadow-travel takes a bit more of my energy than I like."  
"Wow. So that's what you call it. That was... weird."  
Nico didn't reply. He was too busy looking around. "This is not Long Island."  
They seemed to be on a cliff. Below them, there were the biggest, most beautiful waterfalls Nico had ever seen. They formed a huge curve.   
Melody gasped. "I know this place! We're on the far end of Niagara Falls. My mom took me here once."  
Nico studied the falls. He could shadow-travel them out now if he wanted to, but he wanted to find out how he had gotten pulled off course. "All well and good," he said, "but what are we doing here? I was aiming for Long Island. It doesn't make sense."  
A voice behind them said, "You are here because of me."  
Nico spun so quickly, he nearly fell over. Standing behind them was a girl in a flower-print tank top and blue jeans. Her feet were bare. Her skin had a slightly blue hue and her eyes were the exact same shade as Percy Jacksons- sea green. The thought was disconcerting.  
Melody had turned too. She studied the newcomer with interest. "Wow. Where did you come from?"  
The strange girl inclined her head toward the falls. "I am Nyah, on of many nymphs that live in the Great Falls."  
Melody looked at Nico inquiringly. "Nymphs?"  
He put his hand to his temple. For some reason, a headache had started behind his eyes. "Nymphs are spirits. Nyah here is a water nymph who happens to live in Niagara Falls."  
Nyah narrowed her eyes at him. "The Great Falls are sacred to us. We live there. They give us life. In return, we keep their waters clean."  
Something in her voice told Nico that the nymphs of the 'Great Falls' were having some problems with cleaning the waters. Nico looked back at the falls, but everything looked picture-perfect to him. "So why did you stop us?"  
Nyah swept her blue-streaked hair behind her elfish ears. "We have encountered a monster that has made its home on this side of the falls."  
Nico crossed his arms. "Let me guess. You want us to get rid of it?"  
Nyah nodded, looking a bit embarrased. Her voice had a formal tone that reminded his of Zoë Nightshade, former lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis. "Normally, I and my sisters would be strongly opposed to killing this monster. We believe everything deserves a chance to live, to prosper. However, this one is relentless. He uproots trees, killing many of our green sisters. He kills and eats animals and dumps what is left in the river, thus polluting our waters. It is all we can do to keep the dirty water from reaching the falls."

Nico sighed. It wasn't exactly rare for a nymph to ask the help of a demigod, but it wasn't common, either. He wondered how they had been pulled off course. It had happened before, but by much more powerful spirits. Then it hit him. Niagara Falls were the biggest waterfalls in the United States. All that water could make several very powerful water nymphs. 

"Alright," he said. "I'll do it, but only because we have somewhere to go. Where would I find this monster?"

Nyah tilted her head. "What about the girl?"

"Yeah, Nico," Melody chimed in. "What about the girl?"

Nico shook his head. "Melody, I don't think you should come. This is... real-demigod stuff. I don't want you to get hurt."

She shrugged. "I'm a real demigod, though. Like you said, I just don't know my godly parent yet."

It was evident that she was going to come whether Nico wanted her to or not. He began twisting his skull ring; he did that when he got frustrated. He tried to imagine returning to Camp Half-Blood without her, but he couldn't. He'd never forgive himself. 

Then he recalled a talk Will Solace, son of Apollo, had with him before he left.

Nico had retreated to his cabin after volunteering to pick up Melody. He couldn't stand the looks that the counselors were giving him- a mix of confusion, distrust, and pity. Don't ask him why. The truth was, Nico had offered to go because he needed a break from Camp Half-Blood. It was great, don't get him wrong, actually doing the activities instead of just watching from the shadows, but it got a little annoying after a while. He wasn't used to being involved, so you could say he had become shy over the years.   
While he was packing food into the magic box Leo Valdez had invented, he heard a knock on the cabin door. He opened it to find Will, who pushed past him inside as if he'd been invited.   
Will turned around to face him. He looked miffed. "What are you thinking? Going off alone to pick up another demigod? You do realize that increases your chances of being attacked by tenfold."  
"So what?" Nico didn't understand why he was so upset. "I can defend myself. You know that."  
"Yes, I know." He crossed his arms defensively. "I just don't want you to get yourself killed."  
"For crying out loud, Will," he exclaimed. The door was still open behind him. "I know you're a doctor, but you worry too much."  
Something in Wills' eyes told him that something else was bothering him. Nico had a pretty good idea what. "Do you think I won't come back?" he asked quietly.   
Will looked around, frustrated. "I don't know what to think."  
Nico tried to soften his tone. "I understand why you would worry about that, Will. But you're going to have to trust me."  
Will still looked upset, but some of the fire died in his eyes. He stepped forward and put a hand on Nico's shoulder protectively. "All right. You've convinced me. Just... try not to get hurt, okay?"  
Nico suddenly became aware of the open door. He felt his face burning and hoped Will didn't notice. "I'm a demigod, Will," he said as coolly as he could manage. "Getting hurt is unavoidable."  
Will looked him in the eyes. "I suppose it is."

All of this passed through is head in a flash as he looked at Melody.  
Will had stayed behind even after things got awkward, helping him to pack the box. Nico still had a note in his pocket that Will had snuck into his jacket: Stay safe for me, Death Boy. Even though Nico still absolutly hated being called Death Boy, the note still made him smile.   
Getting hurt is unavoidable. He hated it when his own advice applied to himself.  
"Fine," he muttered. "Fine, you can come along. Just don't do anything stupid."  
She looked happy and surprised at the same time, as if having expected him to deny her request. "I don't know what you're talking about."


	4. Blast from the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melody looks over at Nico with concern. He's tripping a lot, and soon admits a bad headache to her. She wonders why.   
> Turns out, the cause is a certain monster Nico never wanted to see again. 
> 
> It's time to put her powers in action.

Nice.   
Melody was actually going to see a monster.   
Sure, see had seen Mr. Baver and all, but he still looked human (mostly, anyway). She was a huge fan of dragons and other non-human stuff. She wanted to see the cool monsters.   
They had entered the small forest that was growing behind Niagara Falls. Melody was stoked to be here again. She loved the falls when she saw them as a kid. Now she was looking for a monster on the falls. What were the chances?  
Nico walked beside her, occasionally tripping over branches and running his hand through his hair as if his head hurt.  
"Are you okay?" she asked him after the sixth time. It was beginning to get annoying.   
He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a headache."  
He didn't sound very sure, so Melody let the topic drop.   
They walked for what felt like forever. Melody's feet began to hurt. Nyah had told them to walk west, and they would find it. How specific.   
Suddenly Nico stumbled violently, nearly falling to the ground head-first. Melody just managed to catch him. "Whoa, dude," she grunted, nearly falling over herself. "Must be some headache!"  
He straightened. "Sorry, Melody. It... it got to me."  
"Yeah, it sure did," she said. She knew it was rude, but she didn't care just then.  
Nico scowled and brushed her hands off of him. Then he froze.   
Melody looked around and saw something amazing... nothing. Nothing but trees and rocks. "What is it?" she asked him.  
Nico quickly shushed her. Then Melody heard it- a sound like a dog (well, more like a T-rex) eating something. The sound was nauseating.   
Her demigod counterpart slowly moved toward a clump of tall bushes. The sounds were coming from behind the small trees, as her mom used to say. Melody followed.   
When Nico reached the bushes, he pushed them aside as quietly as possible. What Melody saw made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.   
It looked like a huge lion. Melody couldn't see its face because it had it's back to them, but she could see its tail. It looked absolutely nothing like a lions tail. As a matter of fact, it looked like the tail of a lizard, rough and spiky. It was eating a deer carcass.   
She glanced at Nico to see what he made of it and was surprised at what she saw.   
Nico had gone white. His hands were shaking, but he didn't notice. The look in his eyes scared her - fear. For a second, Nico looked about ten years old.   
Then he composed himself.   
"Nico..." she muttered uneasily. "What is this thing?"  
She realized her mistake as the monster quit its snarfing and raised its head. A sound like a monstrous dog sniffing the air ensued. Then it turned around. Melody clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.   
The face was human, only framed with a lions' mane. It sniffed the air again.   
"Who is there?" it bellowed.The voice- was that a French accent?  
She looked at Nico again and could tell he recognized the voice. "Nico, what is this thing?" she demanded in a urgent whisper.  
It took him a second to focus on her. "It- it's a..."  
"What?!"  
"A manticore."  
The monster bounded forward a few steps, each jump shaking the ground. "Half-bloods! I know you're here. Show yourselves!"  
Then Nico did the unthinkable. He stood up.   
"Are you insane?" she hissed, but he didn't seem to hear. Nico walked out of the bushes and into the manticores line of sight.  
The monster doubled back when it saw Nico. "It- it's you!"  
Nico still looked a little scared, but he tried to hide it. He looked the monster right in the eyes.  
Huh, she thought. Suddenly this 'headache' didn't seem to be bothering him. Or maybe he was ignoring it.   
The manticore began to change. The lion body shrunk and slimmed down. The fur grew into a slick black suit. In no time, the big bad manticore had turned into a clean-shaven tall man with one blue eye and one brown eye. He stepped forward once again, studying Nico intently. Then he laughed. "By the gods, it is you! Nico, correct? How you have grown since Westover."  
Nicos' hand tightened on his sword hilt. "I've grown in more ways than one, Thorn."  
The human/manticore guy, Thorn, glanced at Nico's sheath. "I see you have. I was quite sorry to hear about your sister, by the way. She could have been a valuable asset."  
Nico scowled. He was now gripping his sword hilt so tightly his fingers had turned white. "Bianca was so much more than an asset, Thorn. At the very least, she was more of a fighter than you'll ever be."  
Thorn sneered. "Is that so? Oh, are you still following that boy around? What was his name... Percy Jackson?"  
The look in Nico's eyes could have born a hole through Earth and beyond. He looked like he was about to charge Thorn bare-handed. Now, Melody may not know him very well, or what had gone down between him and Thorn(or if this thing was the reason for Nico's head troubles), but she wasn't about to let him get himself killed. She owed him that much. Besides, how would she get to Camp Half-Blood without him? She was not going to let herself get stranded on Niagara Falls.   
She took a deep breath, getting her nerve up. Then she stood up, walked over to Nico and took her post next to him.  
Nico looked at her in surprise. He had probably thought she was going to stay hidden while he took Thorn down. The truth was, she was terrified, but she wasn't about to tell him that.   
Melody moved a little closer to him and studied Thorn. "So," she said. "No offense to you, sir, but what kind of a name is Thorn?"  
Thorns' sneer faded. He tilted his head, looking from Nico to Melody and back again. "Well, well, Mr. di Angelo. Who is this fine young lady?"  
Melody tried to answer, but Nico cut her off. "She's with me."  
Nico had a sort of challenge in his voice- one that made him sound quite protective of her.   
Thorns' sneer returned. "My, my, Nico. You've quite outdone yourself."  
Nicos' expression faltered. "I- no. She isn't my-"  
Melody saved him. "Some observation, Mr. Thorn. Too bad it isn't true."  
The mans two-tone eyes were unnerving. "You're a brave one. I admire that. Perhaps I shall keep you alive for my amusement. But this one-" he gestured toward Nico- "-must die."  
Nico drew his sword. The temperature dropped around the jet-black blade. "That isn't going to happen."   
Thorns' sneer turned into a snarl. Something dark moved behind him. "I have been waiting long for this, son of Hades!"  
Something shot out from behind Thorn- almost like he had thrown a knife, but he hadn't moved his arms. Nico had seen it coming, though. Melody stumbled back as he deflected it off of his blade and charged forward. Thorn, in turn, morphed back into his full manticore form and dodged the sword.  
She stood, transfixed, as Nico and the manticore continued attacking, but continued dodging as well. The son of Hades was amazing, pulling off moves that Melody thought only gymnasts and stuntmen could do, as well as not getting killed. The only problem was, he never seemed to score a hit. The manticore kept ducking and jumping, always evading him. It almost looked like Thorn was playing with him, occasionally lashing spikes from its tail, but he never hit either.   
Melody stiffened. Thorn... he wasn't trying to kill Nico just yet. He was trying to tire him, waiting until Nico lowered his guard for the real attack. It was working, too. Nicos' strikes were slowing down. He kept glancing at the thorns in in the trees. (So that's why the manticores name was Thorn...) If Nico kept doing that... no.  
"Nico..." she muttered. She realized her deadly mistake too late.   
Nico looked behind him to acknowledge her for just a second, but that was enough to provide the oppertunity Thorn had been waiting for. The manticore smiled gruesomely and raised its tail.   
Melody tried to warn him, but she wasn't quick enough. The spike flew toward him and embedded itself in his arm. Nico yelped and staggered backward. Judging from the look on his face, that did not feel good.   
Thorn bounded forward and smacked Nico into one of the trees. He hit hard. He tried to stand up again, but his knees buckled and he fell down.  
The manticore stalked toward him, growling and twitching his tail like a cat. "Not so high and mighty now, are you?" he said, in a voice that was almost a purr. He bared his teeth, revealing sharp, pointed fangs.   
Melody would look back on what happened next and say: What was I thinking?  
Truth was, she wasn't thinking at all. Her hands heated up and began to glow. She charged Thorn from behind and grabbed his tail, careful to avoid the spikes.   
The tail began to smoke. The manticore roared, lashing his tail around and releasing spikes everywhere. It was pure luck that Melody did not get impaled.   
Thorn turned around sharply, causing Melody to release her grip. She stumbled back as the angry manticore roared again, lashing out at her with his front paw. "You will pay for that, half-blood!"  
Melody dodged the paw and crossed her arms indignantly. "With what? I don't have a credit card yet, and I don't have any money on me. By the way, Thorn, you need a breath mint."  
He snarled and crouched, preparing to spring. Then he paused. Melody heard the tell-tale sound - a soft thunk followed by a slight hissing noise. Thorn slowly turned into dust and disappeared.   
Behind him, Nico stood with sword in hand. He looked at her with a kind of grudging respect. Then he collapsed.   
Melody rushed over to him and winced. The spike was still in his arm and the jacket around it was dyed a dark crimson. Not a good sign. "Whoa, dude," she said. "That has got to hurt."  
Nico rolled his eyes, obviously embarrassed at falling over. He seemed coherent enough, for now. "What gave you that idea?"  
"I'm very intuitive. Can you stand?"  
He nodded, so Melody did her best to haul him up.   
He took a shaky breath. "That... that was unexpected. What did you do to Thorn?"  
She shrugged, hanging on to his uninjured arm in case he fell again. "I have this thing I can do. If I concentrate, I can heat up my hand and end up burning or melting anything I touch."  
Nico accepted that explanation. Maybe he was used to vaguer. "We need to get back to Nyah. She'd want to know if we killed Thorn or not." He winced and rubbed his arm. "Ow..."  
Melody tilted her head, thinking of spiders. "That spike... it doesn't have any poison or anything on it, right?"  
Nico frowned, looking mildly concerned. "Actually, it does... a friend of mine, Percy, got grazed by a manticore spike once. He told me the poison wasn't made to kill, but-" he rubbed his arm again. "He was only grazed."  
Melody studied the spike. It was obviously hurting him more than he was showing. "Should you take it out?"  
He gulped. "Um, about that..."  
"What?"  
"Do you think you could do it?"  
"What?" she repeated. "Why?"  
"Because I wouldn't be able to take it out straight. Besides," he said, blushing, "I can't see it very well." He said that like it was obvious, but there seemed to be something else bothering him. Maybe… ah. He was scared, and didn't want to show it. Typical boy.   
She sighed and moved to the side with the injured arm. "Okay, then. What do I do? Just pull it?"  
Nico shifted uncomfortably. "I think so."  
"Alright. Just so you know, this hurts me more than it hurts you."  
He looked at her doubtfully.  
Melody ignored him and gently grabbed the spike. She took a deep breath. "One, two..."  
She pulled as hard as she could. It came out with no problem.   
Nico yelped in pain, looking shaky as Melody tossed the spike away. "What happened to three?"  
"He ran away in disgust." She checked his arm. Sure enough, his arm had begun bleeding with more force. "Okay. Good thing I watched all those ER shows... Nico, hand me the box in your pocket."  
"Why?"  
"Just do it."  
Confused, he did.  
Melody opened the box and retrieved one of the blankets that lay in wait. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out the multitask pocketknife her mom had given her. She opened the knife option and thrust the small blade into the cloth, tearing off a strip that was long enough to wrap around his arm. Melody stepped back over, gently took his arm, and tightly wrapped the strip around the wound.  
He winced. "Wow. You learned that from ER shows?"  
She grinned. "You'd be surprised." She returned what was left of the blanket into the box, closed it, and returned it to him.   
Nico stuffed it back in his pocket. "We should get back to Nyah," he said again.  
"Yeah," she replied. "Are you sure you're okay, though? If the spike was poisoned-"  
"I'll be fine."  
Melody could hear the doubt in his voice, but decided not to mention it. "If you say so."

By the time they made it back to Nyah, it looked like she was getting a bit impatient. She tapped her bare foot as she saw them. "Is it done?"  
"Yes," Nico snapped. "Can we go now?"  
Nyah inclined her head. "You have done your part. I thank you for this. However, I see you have been injured..."  
"It'll be fine, Nyah."  
Melody studied him. "Feeling snappy, are we?"  
"A little."  
Nyah narrowed her eyes, no doubt trying to make sense of the irritated son of Hades. "If that is what you think. I shall hinder you no further."  
Then she simply evaporated.  
"Not very social, is she?" Melody muttered.   
Nico shrugged with his good shoulder. "Apparently not. Are you ready to go?"  
"No."  
He nodded and took her hand. "Let's go, then."  
He stepped into the shadow of the nearest tree and evaporated himself, pulling Melody with him. How ironic.


	5. Bad Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadow-traveling with manticore poison probably wasn't the best idea, to be honest.   
> That's what Will Solace was for.

Nico was back in Italy.   
He was walking down the streets of Venice, Bianca at his side. They talked about random things- the lion statues that were everywhere, the canals that substituted for streets. Especially the canals. Bianca kept saying how dangerous the canals were. One slip, and you could fall in. Nico, being the cheeky ten year-old he was, brushed it off. "I get it, I get it," he said.   
Time sped. Nico had become thoroughly bored with walking on the streets and convinced Bianca to come to a canal dock. She sat on one of the benches, playing with her floppy green cap, while Nico tried to catch the gulls that roosted on the edge of the dock. He didn't see the wet patches left by the latest boat, but Bianca did. "Be careful, Nico," she called.  
When Nico turned to show that he had heard, his foot slipped. He fell into the canal.  
"Nico!" He heard his sister, but he couldn't see her. Right then, he couldn't tell which way was up. His little lungs screamed for air. He desparately tried to find a way to the surface-

"Nico. Nico..."  
Huh? That wasn't Bianca's voice...  
Nico opened his eyes, his vision swimming. He blinked, trying to get his vision to clear. He was lying on his back... somewhere. Most of his vision was blocked by a face framed with long blond hair.   
"Annabeth...?" he mumbled.   
She blinked. "No, dummy. It's me. Melody."  
Suddenly it all came back to him. Storm spirit, nymph, manticore. Manticore? He became aware of the burning pain in his arm. "Right. Sorry, Melody."  
He tried to sit up, but his arm gave out and he fell back again.  
"Whoa, dude." Melody helped him into a sitting position against a tree. They were back in the woods. He tried to think back, but his mind was foggy. The manticore poison must have been clouding his mind, and the faint headache that remained didn't help things.   
"Where are we?" he mumbled.   
Melody studied their surroundings. "As far as I can tell, we're on Long Island. You passed out as soon as we left the... what do you call it? Shadow realm?"  
Nico nodded weakly. "Close enough." He tried to move his arm, but it felt useless. Besides the pain, his arm felt like a block of wood. "I think the manticore poison progressed faster than I thought..."  
"Oh gee, y'think?"  
Nico rolled his eyes. "If we're in the woods on Long Island, we should be close to camp... we need to move." He tried to stand up again, but his legs wouldn't hold him and he fell down again. Maybe he shouldn't have tried shadow-travel with manticore poison in his system.   
Melody snickered. "Okay, I think it's become clear you are going nowhere. Why not just stay here for a while? At least until you can stand."  
"But..."  
"No buts."  
He sighed in annoyace. Sometimes she reminded him too much of Will Solace. "Fine."  
Melody turned and looked inside the magic box. (When had she taken it out of his pocket?) She took two wrapped sandwiches out of the box and held one out to him.  
He tried to push it away with his good arm. "I'm not hungry."  
She shook her head in amazement. "Nico, if my calculations are correct, you havn't eaten in two days. You've got to eat something."  
Nico lowered his head. "I don't think that would be a very good idea..."  
Melody studied him closely. Nico prayed to all the gods, hoping she would understand what he meant.   
Thank said gods, she did. Melody returned the sandwich to the box. "Alright. But you have to promise me that you'll eat something when we get to this... camp."  
He winced. Even after all these years, the word promise still reminded him of that cold winter day at camp, when Percy had told him of Bianca's death. After that day, the word promise had lost his meaning to him. It also reminded him of that day when Percy looked up at him, dangling over Tartarus, and said, "Lead them there, Nico! Promise me!"  
Despite that, he nodded. "Okay."  
Melody settled back and began eating, but Nico could see in her eyes that she had returned to the 'million question' stage.  
Sure enough, she quit her chewing and looked at him hopefully. "Can I ask you something?"  
"Sure." It wasn't like he had anything better to do.   
"Who's Bianca?"  
Her words hit him like a rusty dagger, and hurt just as much. "Wh-what?"  
"Bianca. You mentioned her with Thorn, right?"  
"Oh, right..."  
He tried to find an answer that didn't involve shouting "It's none of your business!" and giving her the cold shoulder. It wasn't her fault... after all, he never said anything about Bianca until Thorn called her an asset.  
Melody must have seen the pain in his eyes, because she quickly said, "Or... never mind. You don't have to-"  
"No, it's okay." Nico fought down his sense of pain and said, " She was my sister... she's dead now."  
Melody obviously was not expecting that. She tried to hide her discomfort by taking another bite of her sandwich. Why was she uncomfortable? It's not like she had been there. Melody never offered her condolences, though, which he appreciated. It always sounded empty, meant to console the offerer instead of the victim.   
Finally she said, "Oh... uh, okay. What about Thorn? You two obviously recognized each other."  
"Ah... he was the first monster me and Bianca ever saw in full form. He tried to kidnap us, but Percy and the others chased him off."  
"Percy... Thorn mentioned him, too. Percy Jackson?"  
"Yes." Nico bit his lip. "He's a son of Posiedon... he's probably at Camp Half-Blood now."  
Melody looked like she had more questions, but suddenly the air beside her began to shimmer. Nico recognized it almost immediately. Somebody was sending them an Iris-message! He exhaled in relief. Saved by the rainbow goddess. He prepared himself for hiding his injury... no sense in making them worry before they had to.  
The shimmer focused into an image of a girl with dark skin and gold eyes that Nico knew all too well. When she saw him, sitting against a tree with a bandaged arm, her face immediately showed the signs of worry. No surprise. She was always a bit like a mother hen.   
"Hello, Hazel," he said calmly.   
"Nico!" she replied. "Thank the gods we finally got through! Are you in the woods?"  
He tried not to show the pain that was created when he shrugged. "As far as I can tell, yeah."  
Melody scrambled away from the Iris-message. "What the heck is that?!"  
Hazel turned away from him, for which he was grateful, because his arm had begun to hurt a bit too much for him to effectivily hide.   
Hazel smiled at Melody. "Hi there. Don't be scared. I'm talking to you through what we call an Iris-message. It's kind of like a two-way video call."  
Melody studied Hazel, her eyes lighting up with interest. "Wow. Hi. Um, this might sound weird, but I think I've seen you in a dream..."  
"That isn't strange at all. Lots of demigods have dreams like that. What's your name, if I may ask?"  
Melody smiled. "My name is Melody."  
"Melody. That's a pretty name." Hazel turned back to Nico, who hastily composed himself from rubbing his arm and basically grimacing a lot. "I don't mean to sound like a nag, Nico, but what happened to your arm?"  
Nico tried to look indifferent, but it was hard when his arm was burning like someone currently held a red-hot poker to the wound. "It's just a scratch, Hazel."  
Melody looked at him in confusion, and Nico shot her a look: Drop it.  
He knew he wasn't fooling Hazel, though. She knew him better than anyone, except maybe Reyna, preator of the Twelfth Legion. Hazel studied him with those unnerving gold eyes.   
Finally she said, "Fine. You are gonna have that checked out when you get here, right?"  
"Of course."  
"Alright." She looked offscreen, and Nico could swear he heard yelling in the backround.   
"What's going on?" he asked.   
She looked back at him. "Some die-hard Ma-Ares kids are starting a fight with the Athena campers... I got to go. See you guys soon."  
She swept her hand through the image, and the Iris-message dissolved.   
Nico exhaled in relief, flexing his arm as much as the wound would allow. When he looked up again, Melody was staring at him accusingly. "Why didn't you tell her about the manticore spike, Nico?"  
He grimaced. "No sense in making them worry before they have to..."   
Nico looked up and studied what little sky he could see through the treetops. He did not like what he saw. The sky was gray and he saw several flashes of lightning. It looked like it would rain. That wasn't good. Nico knew that Camp Half-Blood was usually protected from bad weather, but that protection only extended to the camps' borders. The woods were just as exposed to rain and snow as the rest of the mortal world. "We need to move," he repeated.   
"Are you sure?" Melody asked. "I don't know if you..." she trailed off as Nico attempted to stand. Thank the gods, he succeeded, and stood there waiting for her to react.   
She shrugged. "If you can walk."

After an hour, Nico started to get frustrated.   
They'd been walking since the Iris-message. It had begun to rain in large, cold drops that almost felt like sleet, which did not help how he felt. Melody seemed happy enough, though. She kept jumping off logs and cartwheeling in the wet grass. Nico shivered and pulled his jacket closer around himself, but seeing as it was also soaked, it helped little.  
Melody quit her cartwheeling and moved next to him. "You sure you're alright?"  
"F-fine," he stammered. Not very convincing.   
She studied him, worried. "Y'know, you don't look so good."  
"I c-can keep going," he protested. "I think we're almost there..."  
"You think." She obvoiusly didn't believe him. "That isn't very reassuring, Nico."  
He coughed slightly into his fist. "I c-can sense it, Melody. My sister is close."  
Now she looked confused. "You told me your sister died."  
Ugh. He continued to forget how little she knew about him and the basic things that went on at Camp Half-Blood. "Hazel is my sister t-to, on the godly side. Um, how are you not c-cold?" He found it strange that she didn't look cold at all in this stupid freezing rain.  
Now she really looked concerned. "Nico, the rain isn't cold. A little chilly, granted, but not cold."  
Uh-oh.  
Melody tried to feel his forehead, but he swatted her hand away with his good arm.   
She didn't even notice. She was too busy gawking at what had just come into view.  
The tall pine on Half-Blood Hill glinted with the Golden Fleece. Wrapped around the pine was the guardian dragon Peleus, who didn't look happy with the weather. What was he upset about? It wasn't like he was out in the rain. Below the hill, Camp-Half Blood spread in its entirity. Melody gaped. "So that's what it looks like."  
"I t-told you we were close..." Nico said. " Let's k-keep moving."  
Unfortunately, when he tried to step forward his knees buckled and he fell. He would have cracked his head on the rocks if Melody hadn't caught him again. She didn't complain. Instead, she took the oppertunity to place her palm on Nico's forehead. She immediately withdrew it in alarm. "Nico, you're burning up! We need to get help..."  
Nico didn't reply. He was too busy fighting the sense of nausia that had overtaken him.   
He followed Melody blindly as she helped him down the hill, aiming for the dot of light that looked like a fire. He wasn't aware how much time had passed, but he could sense their passing through the invisible barrier. It always tingled a little, and as soon as he felt it, he knew he was in trouble.   
He looked up and registered a few campers gathered around a small, homemade fire, but he couldn't tell who because his vision had started swimming again. He heard shouts of recognition and felt himself being transferred from Melody's arms into anothers. Anothers who strong but gentle grasp he'd recognize anywhere.   
"...Will?" he murmered.  
He heard a soft laugh. Yep, definitly Will. Nico heard him say, "Yeah, it's me. You don't follow orders very well, do you? I told you to stay safe."  
Nico smiled weakly. "...never did... you know that."  
"Yes, I do. Let's get you to the infirmary, you big galoot."  
The last thing Nico knew, he was being moved into the Apollo cabin. "Alright," Will told him. "You can sleep now, okay?"  
And he did.

He had no dreams.   
When Nico woke up, the light hurt his eyes. He blinked spots out of his eyes. When his vision ajusted, he realized he was laying on a cot in the Apollo cabin.   
Will, who was apparently waiting for him, noticed he was awake and came over. "Hey, Death Boy," he said. "How're you feeling?"  
Nico groaned. "I feel like I've been run over by the camp van. And don't call me Death Boy." He tried to sit up, but his arm screamed in pain and he fell back.   
"Whoa, Nico," Will warned. He steadied the son of Hades on the cot. "Your arm is quite far from fully healed. I stopped the poison from getting any farther in your system, but we're running low on ambrosia, so the wound itself is going to need some time to heal on it's own."  
Nico somehow managed to push himself up with his good arm. "Of course it will. How's Melody?"  
Will laughed. "She's a tough one, Nico. I'll give you that. We actually had to hold her back from attacking Clarisse when she and the other Ares campers tried to give her the old-fashioned rite of passage."  
Nico smiled. "Finally, huh?"  
"Yeah." After studying Nico's wound, he began looking for something in the cabinets of the infirmary. Nico hadn't noticed before, but his bomber jacket was hanging on a rack on the wall. "By the way, you missed last nights campfire," Will informed him.   
That was strange. He already knew that. "Okay..."  
Will found what he was looking for and came back over. "She got claimed."  
Nico was not expecting that. "Already?"  
"Yep." Will slung a strap over Nico's head and placed his hurt arm in the sling. Nico looked down at it and smiled gently. "Aw, you even made it black."  
Will stared out the window. Was he blushing? "Yeah, it's a new camp policy."  
Awkward silence.  
Nico decided to just ask the million-dollar question. "Okay, Will. Who's her godly parent?"  
Will grinned and pantomimed Chiron the centaur, getting down on one knee and saying, "Hail, Melody Kandelah, Daughter of Apollo, Lord of the Sun, God of Medicine, ect., ect."  
It took Nico a second to process that. Daughter of Apollo? It actually made sense for once. "Congratulations, Will. You have a new roommate."  
He laughed. "And possible bodyguard."  
"Like you need one," Nico joked.  
Will stepped forward and repositioned the strap holding the sling on Nico's shoulder. "Okay, now. That's enough bedrest for you. Melody is waiting for you outside."  
When he tried to help Nico off the cot, Nico pulled back. "I can walk on my own, Solace."  
Will didn't even argue. He just stepped back and smiled. "Alright, if you say so."  
Nico nodded and, like a real hero, took a step away from the cot. Unfortunately, he would have fallen on his face if Will hadn't caught him. He sighed and shook his head. "Will you ever learn, di Angelo?"  
Nico scraped up what was left of his dignity and growled. "It feels like all I've been doing these past two days is falling over."  
"That would be typical."  
Nico rolled his eyes but allowed himself to be helped outside. When Will opened the door, Nico saw Melody waiting on the porch and taking deep breaths of fresh air. When she heard the door, she turned. "Nico!"  
"Hey, Melody." He tried not to focus on the fact that he was being helped to the porch railing. When he got there, he gripped the railing, thanked Will, and brushed the son of Apollos' hands off.   
Melody studied the cabins spread out in front of her. "Nico, this place is amazing. It all seems so unreal, yet it's right here in front of me."  
Nico smiled. He recalled feeling exactly the same way on his first day. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. It grows on you after a while."  
Melody still looked nervous. "I hope you're right. Some pea-brained Ares kids tried to stuff my head down a toilet this morning." Then she noticed his sling. "That's quite the fashion statement. How's the arm?"  
"Shut up. It's..." he was going to say fine, but for once he decided to tell the truth. "It's better."  
Melody smiled, but she still looked uncomfortable. Nico knew exactly why. He decided to break the ice.  
"So..." he began. "Daughter of Apollo, huh?"  
She nodded uneasily. "It... it seems so strange. My dad, the sun god, yet he left me and my mom in the dark."  
Nico understood that feeling all too well. "Maybe," he said. "But it's your choice whether to stay in the dark or not."  
She looked at him. "That's pretty deep, di Angelo," she snarked.  
"Only as deep as you make it," he shot back, but he was grinning.  
Will snorted. "Will you quit with the all-seeing talk, Nico? Just enjoy the view before dinner."  
Nico frowned. "Fine."  
But as he looked out on the camp, Melody on one side and Will on the other, he smiled privately to himself.  
It was good to be back home.


	6. Coming to Terms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melody made it. She really did.   
> Now she just had to adjust.

Melody was still in shock.   
This camp was amazing. She could learn so much- how to use a sword (although she quickly found a bow and arrow was more her style), how to ride a pegasus, even learn how to kill monsters on her own. But even if she could learn all of this, she had... mixed feelings.   
Now, sitting in 'her' cabin, Melody looked at her bunk. For the cabin of the sun god, the beds were surprisingly plain.   
There was that, too. Her father was Apollo, lord of music, god of the sun. Chiron (the Chiron! As in the centaur!) had told her that most of her talents were indeed within the scope of a daughter of Apollo. Except singing. She couldn't do that in a thousand years. He said that with demigods- which is what she was, apparantly- growing up without a parent was normal, as was growing up with ADHD or dyslexia - both of which she had. But she still didn't understand how any of this was normal. Staring down at her hands, she couldn't make herself believe that she had the blood of a god coursing through her veins. It didn't make sense.   
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up, only to find the smiling face of Will Solace looking down at her. That was another thing. Now she had siblings- a luxury she'd never had. The closest she'd ever experienced was Lucas, a boy she'd befriended in fifth grade. But he'd moved away and she never saw him again.   
"How are you holding up?"  
Will's smooth voice brought her back to reality.   
Melody stared down at her shirt, and the words Camp Half-Blood stared back at her.   
"I'm not sure." Her voice was ragged.   
Will sat down beside her. "Do you want to talk about it?"  
She bit her lip. "It's just- I don't know what to think. Despite what everyone is telling me, I can't shake the feeling that I don't belong here."  
Will smiled. "That's how we all start out. Don't worry. You'll have a lot of friends around here."  
"How do you know that?"  
He winked at her. "You made friends with Nico. And Nico isn't the easiest person to make friends with. If you can make it past his shell, you can do anything."  
Melody shrugged. "I don't see what the problem is. He seems more than willing to be friends with me, it's just harder for him to act on it. What do people have against him?"  
Will's eyes scanned the bedsheet. "He's been through a lot."   
Melody might not have been the best people-reader, but she'd recognize Wills' reaction anywhere. He played indifferent, but the brightness of his eyes and the gentle blush that swept across his cheeks didn't help that image. She decided to take the leap. "You like him, don't you?" she asked quietly.  
Will couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face. "You got me, officer. Are you gonna take me in?"  
Huh? Oh, he must've been asking if she was going to tell Nico. "Nah, but you'd better watch your back. " Leaning in, she whispered, "I think he likes you too..."  
"Really?"   
She laughed at his eagerness. "Yeah, but he seems kinda shy about it. You should talk to him."  
His smile faded. "I- I don't know what I would say..." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.   
"The beautiful part is, neither would he."  
Will managed a small smile. "See what I mean? You'll be just fine at camp."  
"Oh, stop it," she said, punching him in the arm gently.   
But as she stared out the window, she sighed in contentment.   
She was glad to have found her home.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I realize now that night is the best time to shadow-travel. Just deal with it.
> 
> I also looked it up. Chalk can't melt. Welp. Oh well.


End file.
